Door locks used in hotels often use electronic key cards rather than normal mechanical keys to control operation of a lock. Electronic key cards and electronic locks are easily programmable and therefore provide added security in a convenient manner. Unlike mechanical keys and locks, however, electronic key cards and electronic locks do not provide any physical feedback to the user to alert the user as to whether the card is inserted correctly into the lock or whether the key card is correctly programmed to open the lock.
To aid the user, electronic locks provide visual feedback in the form of indicator lights that illuminate in response to card insertion and/or removal. Depending on the desired visual effect, one or more lights can be programmed to, for example, illuminate a green light if the inserted card opens the lock and a red light if the card is inserted incorrectly or if the card is not programmed to open that particular lock.
The indicator lights in currently known electronic locks act as a visual interface that is separate from the card slot and its associated mechanisms. The card slot is visible through a slot cut in a trim panel of the electronic lock, and the indicator lights are visible and accessible via a separate plurality of holes cut in the trim panel. The indicator lights themselves are often LEDs that either extend through their corresponding holes or illuminate behind translucent or transparent lenses disposed in the holes.
Cutting the holes in addition to the card slot in the trim panel increase the overall cost of the manufacturing the lock. If lenses are used, they add yet another level of cost and complexity to the lock. Moreover, the additional holes needed to provide the visual interface create additional entry points that allow environmental contaminants (e.g., passing air, moisture, etc.) to reach the electronic components of the lock, potentially hastening degradation of the components. These holes may also act as an additional entry point that may be used in attempts to breach the electronic lock.
There is a desire to provide an illuminated visual interface for an electronic lock that accommodates key cards while reducing the number of openings in the lock trim panel that such an interface would normally require.